NEW ORLEANS — Environmental groups challenged the first attempted auction of offshore petroleum leases in the western Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, filing a lawsuit Tuesday in federal court.

Mobile Bay Keeper Inc. (Mobile, AL) will train property owners, business owners, and others who live and work along Alabama’s 670 miles of tidally influenced shoreline to identify and report impacts from the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and other coastal threats become engaged in the Natural Resource Damage Assessment process and understand the importance of coastal restoration.

"I had the occasion more than once to fly over Elmer’s in 2010 during the height of the BP drilling disaster. Thanks to a donation of a great camera and lens by the Wallace Global Fund and the support of generous sponsors, especially Jo Billups, I was able to document impacts all throughout the Gulf. Take a look at these aerial photos from Elmer’s Island last year." Johnathan Henderson, Blog - BPs Oil Drilling Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft testified before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on the need for the RESTORE act to be approved by Congress. The act will direct a large portion of fines expected to be paid by BP to the five coastal states affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster.

In the beginning of October Gulf Coast Waterkeepers released the "State of the Gulf: A Status Report from the Gulf Coast Waterkeepers in the Wake of the BP Oil Disaster". It included seven key findings from our unique vantage point of water quality advocates impacted by the nation's worst environmental. I'm laying them out below in case you haven't had the chance to read the report. But I know you want to, so download it here!